Florida
plans
to
eliminate
all
vaccine
mandates
statewide
—
including
those
for
schools
—
according
to
an
announcement
by
Florida
Surgeon
General
Dr.
Joseph
Ladapo
at
a
Wednesday
news
conference.
The
move
has
sparked
strong
backlash
from
the
healthcare
community.
Ladapo,
who
is
a
longtime
vaccine
critic,
argued
that
“every
last
one
of
them
is
wrong
and
drips
with
disdain
and
slavery.”
Florida
would
be
the
first
state
to
end
all
vaccine
mandates.
“Who
am
I
as
a
man
standing
here
now
to
tell
you
what
you
should
put
in
your
body?
Who
am
I
to
tell
you
what
your
child
should
put
in
your
body?
I
don’t
have
that
right,”
he
said.
His
comments
were
made
alongside
Florida
Gov.
Ron
DeSantis.
The
announcement
comes
as
Robert
F.
Kennedy
Jr.
—
a
known
vaccine
critic
—
leads
the
U.S.
Department
of
Health
and
Human
Resources.
Kennedy
recently
removed
the
CDC
director
and
dismissed
the
agency’s
independent
vaccine
advisory
panel,
replacing
them
with
vaccine
skeptics.
It’s
estimated
that
vaccines
have
saved
about
154
million
lives
over
the
last
50
years,
the
vast
majority
being
infants,
according
to
the
World
Health
Organization.
The
American
Medical
Association
slammed
Florida’s
plan
to
end
all
vaccine
mandates.
“This
unprecedented
rollback
would
undermine
decades
of
public
health
progress
and
place
children
and
communities
at
increased
risk
for
diseases
such
as
measles,
mumps,
polio,
and
chickenpox
resulting
in
serious
illness,
disability,
and
even
death,”
said
Sandra
Adamson
Fryhofer,
MD,
trustee
of
the
American
Medical
Association,
in
a
statement.
“While
there
is
still
time,
we
urge
Florida
to
reconsider
this
change
to
help
prevent
a
rise
of
infectious
disease
outbreaks
that
put
health
and
lives
at
risk.”
An
executive
at
Pluto
Health,
a
company
focused
on
connecting
patients
to
needed
care
(including
vaccines),
also
condemned
the
announcement.
“I
believe
this
decision
is
seriously
misguided,”
said
Eric
Perakslis,
Pluto
Health’s
chief
scientific
and
data
officer
and
former
chief
information
officer
of
the
FDA,
in
an
email.
“Having
worked
with
Partners
in
Health
and
Doctors
Without
Borders
in
countries
where
vaccines
are
not
readily
available,
I
have
seen
firsthand
the
devastating
consequences
when
people
suffer
from
diseases
that
could
have
been
eradicated
or
prevented.
It
is
heartbreaking
to
watch
communities
endure
avoidable
illness
simply
because
they
lack
the
access
to
basic
vaccines.”
Another
health
tech
executive
—
Dr.
Amy
Bucher,
chief
behavioral
officer
of
Lirio
—
expressed
concern
over
Florida’s
announcement.
Lirio
offers
a
personalization
engine
that
combines
behavioral
science
and
AI.
Bucher
is
also
a
researcher
who
recently
conducted
a
study
on
vaccination
behaviors
in
the
U.S.
“As
someone
who
has
studied
vaccine
behaviors
extensively,
including
the
barriers
that
already
exist
for
people
to
access
and
accept
vaccines,
I
find
this
decision
deeply
concerning.
Vaccine
mandates,
especially
in
institutional
settings
like
schools,
workplaces,
and
healthcare
facilities,
play
a
critical
role
in
protecting
public
health,”
Bucher
said.
“Removing
them
not
only
weakens
the
infrastructure
that
supports
vaccine
uptake
but
also
sends
a
signal
that
these
preventive
measures
are
optional
or
unnecessary.”
Photo:
Pornpak
Khunatorn,
Getty
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